?

  Upon hearing Xiao Bai's obvious disdain, Aphrodite turned to Feng Junzi and said: "Mr. Feng thinks that the white charcoal in Xiaobai Village is sold too cheaply? Or did you not notice the protection and development so as to cut off resources?"

  Feng Junzi: "Both are present, but the most fundamental reason lies elsewhere. The mountain people do not grasp their own destiny, nor have they realized what they should do. When others tell them how to make money, they listen. They've even forgotten the teachings of their ancestors. However, it's okay, from now on just don't repeat this lesson and your mind will be clear!"

  At this time, Luoshui Hansheng shouted towards the outside: "Old He, come over!"

  A man who was watching the chef roast meat outside ran in and asked: "Does Mr. Luo have any orders?"

  "Where did you buy this white charcoal snowflake?"

  Lao He: "Zhi Xugu country may not have such things for sale, these coals are specially imported from the Luoba Alliance, and in the entire Wuyou City, only Mr. Luo's family can afford to use them."

  "Get them all out! Replace them with different charcoal, and never use these again!" Old He was taken aback, unsure what had gotten into Luo Shuihan, but he didn't ask questions and quickly directed the men to remove the furnace and replace the charcoal. At this point, Bai Shaoliu smiled and said, "Mr. Luo wants to buy out the shares of the Wan Guo Mo Tong Bank, actually, it's to protect the Snowflake Dragon Wood in Wuyou City. Miss Weina, Lord Lingdun, what do you two think?"

  Luo Shuihan looked at Bai Shaofeng with a look of approval, and Feng Junzi couldn't help but laugh out loud. In a joking tone, he said to Ling Dun Hou: "Hou Ye, everyone is talking about you! If things don't go well, the mountain of the Bai family might be cut down by your family!"

  The Marquis of Linton looked like he was joking, but it made him want to get angry and couldn't. The Marquis of Linton raised his head and looked at Feng Junzi again, then glanced at Bai Shaoliu, with a very solemn expression but a hint of cold smile at the corner of his mouth. He put down the things in his hand and said: "Just now Mr. Bai told a story, I'll tell one too. This story is very famous, almost everyone knows it in the West, don't know if you've heard it?"

  Bai Shaoliu: "If you don't tell us, how are we supposed to know?"

  Luo Xue smiled and said: "Are we going to have a storytelling session today? Marquis, you say it, everyone is listening!"

  The story that Marquis Lington is telling is "God's Vineyard", from the New Testament of the Bible. Everyone present has heard this story, including Xiao Bai, because Feng Junzi had given him a Bible with the page folded to this very story. Although everyone knows it, no one interrupts or interjects, which is a social etiquette.

  In such a gathering, if someone wants to tell a story and hasn't spoken more than a few sentences before another person interrupts saying: "I know, the story goes like this..." Not only does it not show that he is knowledgeable, but also shows that he is very rude. There's no need to say anything until Lord Linton finishes his story.

  The kingdom of heaven is like a vineyard. One morning, the owner of the vineyard stood at the gate and hired people passing by to work in the vineyard, saying that the wage would be one silver coin. Many people thought it was a good deal and went in, starting to work, watering the grapes, fertilizing them, and pulling out weeds from under the grape trellis. At noon, the owner of the vineyard still stood at the gate, hiring passersby, with the same wage of one silver coin, and some people thought it was suitable and also went in. This continued until the afternoon, when the owner of the vineyard still stood at the gate, constantly hiring passersby to work in the vineyard, all for a wage of one silver coin.

  When the sun went down, people in the vineyard came out one after another. The master of the vineyard stood at the gate and gave them their wages, one silver coin per person. At this time, those who had started working from morning felt discontented and said to the master: "We worked for a whole day, but those who entered the garden in the afternoon only worked for a short while, why did you give us the same pay?"

  "The owner replied, 'Do you think it's unfair? But before you entered the garden to work, we agreed on this condition. Paying you one silver coin is what should be done. I didn't cheat or go back on my word. We both have to keep our promises. Your accusations against me are unreasonable. What did you lose? You just got what you deserved!'"

  The story was so short, and after it was finished, everyone fell silent for a moment. The face of the Duke of Lington had an air of pride. This table was full of clever people, and they could naturally hear that he was using this story to respond to Xiao Bai's previous story.

  The conversation earlier seemed calm, but the conflicting implications were obvious. Bai Shaofeng was so calm in admitting that he wore pants with holes on his buttocks when he was young, while Ling Dun Marquis also claimed that he used precious and rare snow charcoal for barbecue since childhood. What's even more interesting is that the snow charcoal enjoyed by Ling Dun Marquis was made from the Snow Dragon Wood cut down by the villagers of Xiao Bai's hometown, but Xiao Bai Village didn't get the proper compensation they deserved.

  Marquis Lington answered Feng Junzi's sarcastic question with a story, because it was an agreement. The villagers of Xiaobai Village were willing to cut down the dragon-reducing tree and burn snow charcoal. His family had been using snow charcoal since childhood, which was bought at a price. Since the price had been discussed and both parties could accept it, there was no fairness or unfairness. At the same time, this story also has another extended meaning, that is, everyone should only get what they deserve, as long as this is the condition you accept, there should be no complaints, nor can you blame others for getting more.

  The conversation at the dinner party started with Luo Shuihan's idea of acquiring shares in the Bank of International Settlements through the financial group where Aphrodite was located, for which he had to pay a higher price and also consider Aphrodite's attitude. This was inevitable, as in reality the Roba Alliance Financial Group was more qualified and advantageous as a strategic investor in the Bank of International Settlements, so Bai Shaoliu didn't need to complain on behalf of Luo Shuihan.

  It can't be said that Ling Dunhou's words were completely unreasonable, and of course it can't be said that his words were right in the context of the previous example. However, refuting him is not very convenient, because he quoted the Bible, and for a believer, openly criticizing the Bible in front of him may lead to unpleasant conflict. Feng Junzi ignored him, smiled coldly, and with an air of arrogance, turned around and went to roast meat on the newly replaced charcoal stove, as if he hadn't heard the story at all.

  At this time, Gu Ying, who had not spoken all along, spoke up: "A person should only get what he deserves, and cannot complain that others have gotten more. This is indeed the principle of being a human being, I highly agree with Marquis Ling Dun's words."

  Marquis Lington's face revealed a smile, nodding towards Gu Ying: "It seems that Miss Gu has studied the theory of contracts? It is the starting point of modern Western civilization."

  "But, my words are not finished yet. What a person should get depends on what he has done, rather than the contract with God. I don't mean to disrespect God by saying this, and I think the all-powerful one you believe in won't deceive you, but the contracts in this world are made between people, and we need to think about what's behind them. Xiaobai, what do you say?"

  Bai Shaofeng was listening, and suddenly heard Gu Ying ask for his opinion. After thinking for a moment, he replied: "Actually, my idea is very simple. If there was such a vineyard at my doorstep, and the owner asked workers like Lord Lingston did, it would be fine on the first day. I estimate that by the second day, no one would show up. If they went, they would wait until the afternoon to go; in the morning, definitely no one! ...If this vineyard were mine, of course, I wouldn't do things like this."

  Marquis of Linton: "Mr. Bai misunderstood, this story is not about the vineyard asking for workers. If you must say so, it can also be understood as the owner of the garden doesn't care about your thoughts. You are willing to go then go, if you don't go he cannot blame you."

  Bai Shaoliu: "I didn't accuse anyone, how your family runs the vineyard is none of my business. I just want to say that if I were running the vineyard, it wouldn't be like this, whether you care or not... Besides, I don't quite like your tone, must you be the owner and I be the worker? Your reasoning is correct, but your assumption is unreasonable."

  Bai Shaoyu's words were very straightforward, meaning that the Marquis of Lingdun couldn't just think he was noble because of his birth, and he should be bound by the rules of the garden. At this time, Feng Junzi, who was roasting meat behind him, chuckled and muttered to himself: "This is Luoyuan in Wuyi City, Zhixu Country, not God's vineyard."

  Luo Shuihan quickly smiled and said, "It's the same, God's guests are also my Luo Garden's guests." Fortunately, he covered up the gunpowder smell from the conversation just now.

  At this time, Gu Ying said: "Mr. Bai's words are what I want to say. God cannot only talk about conditions and not reason. I think God will not do so. Things in the world seem to be just talking about conditions, but we should all know why in our hearts."

  Bai Shaofeng rushed forward and smiled at Gu Ying: "Can't we just talk about our own principles?"

  The conversation had reached a slightly awkward point, and the atmosphere of the dinner party was a bit chilly. Lu Xue blinked her eyes and said: "Are you going to hold a debate or something? Or would it be better to have a storytelling session instead? Who else wants to tell a story?"

  Aphrodite had been watching Feng Junzi, and earlier when everyone was debating, she had hoped to see his reaction, unfortunately, he had turned around at the time. Feng Junzi was roasting meat, and in front of him, the silver stove made a sizzling sound and emitted clear smoke, he was busy sprinkling salt and seasoning with great relish. Aphrodite finally couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Feng, is your meat done?"

  Feng Junzi turned around and said, "It's done, wife, try my skills! ... Miss Weina, do you want me to grill one for you too?" He placed the meat on the silver fork onto Xiao Yunyi's plate and looked up at Aphrodite.

  Aphthina: "Thank you, but I also want to tell a story and ask Mr. Feng a question."

  "Great, great! Come on, Sister Ana, tell us!"

  Aphthene: "This story is actually a legend I heard on the Zhixu continent, there are some parts of this legend that I don't quite understand, I hope to ask for your guidance..."

  Aphrodite's story is very interesting, Xiaobai listened and felt that she was talking about Feng Junzi, the content is as follows:

  On the Eastern continent, there is a group of special people who possess powerful abilities beyond those of ordinary humans, yet they blend in with the crowd. Among them is a master-disciple pair, where the disciple follows his master to cultivate his powers, becoming increasingly strong and eventually leading this group of special individuals. However, what's puzzling is that despite his achievements, the disciple doesn't hold a corresponding position in the secular world; at one point, he even worked under the director of a small official institution. Even now, he remains merely an ordinary hotel owner.

  What's more, that master's power was so great that it was almost invincible in the world, yet he chose to give up and forget, still an ordinary person in the mortal world, living a life that didn't match his identity at all. Aphthite could understand that people with power don't use it lightly, but she couldn't understand why the strong would willingly flow with the weak. As the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility, so they should do more to lead the tide of history forward, their achievements and status should be even higher, and they should be respected and followed by all.

  She was actually talking about Feng Junzi and Mei Ye Shi, especially Feng Junzi, who almost directly mentioned his name. When telling this story, she kept staring at Feng Junzi without blinking, hoping to observe something from his reaction, did Feng Junzi know who she was talking about? Feng Junzi listened very carefully, with a concerned expression on his face, but from start to finish, his complexion didn't change in the slightest.

  Aphrodite's story ended, she raised the cup on the table to Feng Junzi and said: "Mr. Feng, I'll drink a toast to you, hoping you can answer my question." After that, she herself took a sip from the cup and drained it.

  "What do you want to ask?" Feng Junzi asked with a wine cup in hand, but didn't rush to drink.

  Aphthita: "I just want to know what that person who forgot their powers is thinking."

  "Feng Junzi: 'Perhaps he never had a loss, only thought it was unnecessary, not what he truly wanted.'"

  The Marquis of Lington also raised his glass and took a sip, smiling faintly: "A person should do things that match their power and status, this is the position they should have, for the strong to yield to the weak is unreasonable."

  Feng Junzi also smiled: "That's because Ling Dun Hou thinks he is the strong one, for example, you are not possible to serve Bai Shaofeng, right?"

  Gu Ying: "Mr. Feng, why do you always drag Xiaobai into this? If you want to tell a story, just tell it."

  "Feng Junzi: 'Alright, let's just discuss the matter at hand. Mr. Lingdon, if it were not you and Mr. Luo sitting across from me, but rather the King of Spia and the President of Zhi Xu, I think I would still be exactly the same as I am now, but what about you? Here, there is no question of who yields to whom, only a realm that you do not understand.'"

  Aphrodite's eyes lit up and she immediately asked: "Why did Mr. Feng use himself as an example?"

  "He's always been like that, and I must say, it's quite admirable!"

  Aphrodite: "But I'm asking about the person in the story."

  Xiao Yunyi: "This is something others can't comment on, you should ask the person in the story themselves. But I can tell another story to explain your story and especially address the Marquess of Lingtong's doubts."

  Luo Xiao laughed and said: "Great, today's story is getting more and more interesting!"

  The story told by Xiao Yunyi is a fable from the ancient Daoist classics of the Zhixu Kingdom, about a dead mouse.

  In the world, there is a divine bird named Dapeng. When it spreads its wings, it can stir up 8,000 miles of cloud and air, and when it rises with a flap, it can crash into 90,000 miles of divine wind. It only drinks from the heavenly pool's clear springs and rests on the excellent wood that pierces the sky. One day, Dapeng flew over from high altitude, and in the forest below, an owl had just caught a mouse, killed it, and was about to eat it when it saw Dapeng. The owl was startled, grabbed the dead mouse, and shouted at the sky: "This mouse is mine! You can't come and snatch it!"

  Xiao Yunyi's voice was crisp and clear, and when she told stories, she would use vivid expressions and facial expressions. When she imitated the owl's appearance and shouted loudly, she made everyone around her laugh. Luo Xue laughed and said, "That owl is really interesting!"

  Aphrodite: "And then?"

  Xiao Yunyi: "Then there was nothing, I saw it in a book, and that's all the book said."

  Feng Junzi interrupted, "No, no, actually this story isn't finished yet."

  Xiao Yunyi: "Is there anything else? That's your fabrication, you can fill it in yourself."

  Feng Junzi added another section after this story:

  The big bird didn't notice the owl flying by, and the owl finally let out a sigh of relief. At this time, another owl flew over, and the first owl said to the second owl: "Did you see that? Just now a bird flew by, and it didn't even catch any mice." The other owl looked at the dead mouse under its claws and said: "What's there to catch? If I were as fierce as that bird, I'd snatch the dead mouse from under your feet!" The first owl asked: "Then why didn't it snatch it?" The second owl replied: "Yeah, I don't understand either!"

  The young master's eyebrows danced with joy, just like a person singing a duet, while imitating two owls talking, making Luo Xiao burst out laughing. After he finished speaking, he finally drank the cup of wine in his hand, then looked at Marquis Lingdun without looking at anyone else: "Marquis, have you figured it out?"

  Marquis Lington's face changed, and he looked somewhat gloomy. Feng Junzi explained again: "I told this story without any intention of disrespecting the owl and the dead sparrow, but what these big birds think is irrelevant."

  "As the saying goes, a big forest has all kinds of birds; how much more so in this vast world?"

  Afu Te Na asked Xiao Yun Yi: "Feng Furen, this story was started by you, which book did you see it in?"

  Xiao Yunyi: "Actually, it's a book that my husband often reads. I wouldn't have read it before getting married."

  Aphrodite: "And after getting married?"

  Xiao Yunyi: "Then I have to take a look, I also want to know what he's looking at every day, and grasp the dynamics of his thoughts in time!"

  This dinner party had five people telling four stories, the focus of the conflict was mainly between Feng Junzi and Marquis Lingdun. Although everyone's tone was very polite and elegant, their words were not ambiguous at all. The topic was raised by Marquis Lingdun, and Feng Junzi didn't give him any face at all, stirring up everyone to tell stories that made Marquis Lingdun lose face completely.

  The greatest harvest is of course the audience, Bai Shaofeng also understood many things, the truth was originally vaguely known but it's hard to say directly and clearly. Gu Ying spent most of her time looking at Xiao Bai, the more she looked, the more she found his good qualities, truly a rare straightforwardness and candor, being able to talk freely in this kind of situation is already impressive, moreover he faces his poor origins as well as any kind of nobility and arrogance with equanimity.

  Aphrodite had been watching Feng Junzi, and when he was smilingly telling the story of the two owl cats, although it was a ridicule to Lord Lington, but this story was also for her. Looking at his face, thinking of the legend of the Roc bird, through his smile Aphrodite also felt a transcendent atmosphere, as if vaguely seeing the boy who met in her dream that year. At the same time, she was sighing, the person in front of her was so close yet so far away, with an unbridgeable chasm in between.

  Aphthita felt her mind in a whirl, if she wanted to unravel all this, giving all the glory to God to maintain sacred and firm faith, it seemed that only killing him would do! He was the beautiful dream of her life, but also the terrible demon entwined in her soul.

  Marquis Lington was initially focused on Aphthea, and when telling the story of the vineyard, he was very proud, deliberately showing off to let Aphthea know how wise he was. But as soon as Feng Junzi compared him to an owl that catches dead mice, Marquis Lington's anger shifted to Feng Junzi, and now even if it wasn't for helping Aphthea, he really wanted to kill this man!

  Luoshuihan was unaware that Ling Dun Hou and Aphrodite had murderous intentions towards Feng Junzi, one of whom was struggling in pain while the other had already risen to kill. Luoshuihan only paid attention to Luoxi alone, today's dinner party was worth it, Luoxi could also learn a lot from it, the stories heard today can be slowly understood in the future, this experience is rare. Moreover, listening to Feng Junzi's tone, he seemed to be leaning towards himself, which means that in the future, he will also be willing to help Luoxi, this was what made Luoshuihan most happy.

  The sky darkened, and the transparent awning around it lit up with soft white lighting, making the awning shine like a delicate crystal greenhouse. Luo Garden was very large, just a private seaside villa, and that villa was only the main building. Here, there were not only beaches, gardens, fitness venues, but also a dedicated fencing room, and in the garden, there was a small golf practice field with night lighting equipment.

  After the dinner party, Luoshuihan kept the guests and invited everyone to play in the Luoyuan Garden. All staff members can serve them, and they can chat privately with each other. When leaving, please feel free to do so without having to say goodbye specifically.